Part 4 of 4 of my Photo Diary of a visit to Colorado Springs in August 2016. For part 3, where I ride the Pike's Peak Cog Railway on a snowy day, click here.

On my last full day in Colorado Springs before flying to San Francisco, I decided to take advantage of the good weather to have another hike around the Garden of the Gods.

My agenda was to hike my way to the dramatic Siamese Twins rock formation and catch a photo of the famous Pike's Peak through a "natural window" at the Twins.

Before heading off, I took the time to take some photos of Pike's Peak with the sky still clear, snows from the day before still remaining.

Pike's Peak on a clear late summer morning

I took an Uber from there and got down at Scotsman Picnic, then walked a leisurely pace along the Scotsman Trail, before turning east to cross the road to the Palmer Trail.

Looking back at Garden Drive, where I crossed the road into the Palmer Trail.

From here, there was plenty of scenery to take in, with the sandstone in the foreground and the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains and Pike's Peak in the background.

Panorama of the view along the Palmer Trail. The Siamese Twins are visible to right of center.

I headed up to the Siamese twins, which are visible in the photo above, and went to work making pictures of the dramatic terrain.

Life on the rocks

More views around the Siamese Twins

Hikers making their way to the Siamese Twins

And finally, my first full view of the Siamese Twins:

The Siamese Twins at the Garden of the Gods

A closer look at the dramatic form of Siamese Twins and the "window" below

People and nature: a hiker dwarfed by the Siamese Twins. Note the distortion caused by shooting on a 14mm lens.

And of course, I got my signature "keyhole" shot on Pike's Peak through the Twins, though unfortunately by this hour clouds had already settled on the peak.

Cloudy Pike's Peak through the window of the Siamese Twins. Preferred a monochrome take for this shot.

Playing around with more black and white:

Like a claw reaching for the sky

View from the other side of the window of the Siamese Twins

Also made sure to snap a photo of the infamous Manitou Incline, perhaps "the most unique and challenging trail" in the USA, with a staggering 2,000 feet of vertical gain in less than one mile. Sadly, it was closed for repairs exactly on the week I was there, so I was unable to test myself on it! Even from afar, it looked nearly vertical and pretty brutal.

The Manitou Incline as seen from the Garden of the Gods. Behind it, the summit of Pike's Peak glowers from over 14,000 feet high.

From there, I walked down and south all the way down to the Garden of the Gods Trading Post, where I had lunch and bought some souvenirs: books, photo prints, and funny socks.

After lunch, I made my way back up via Uber to the viewing deck of the Garden of the Gods to shoot some time-lapse. Luckily for me, there was drama building up in the clouds over Pike's Peak.

Setting up a time-lapse as a storm comes in over Pike's Peak

The coming storm. Acting out a metaphor for the political situation in the world right now.

Not too long afterward, the storm reached where I was standing and I had to hightail it back to the Garden of the Gods Resort. But it was enough time for me to shoot some striking 4K time-lapse of the storm over Pike's Peak and the Garden of the Gods.

With my shooting effectively over because of the weather, I treated myself to a burger at the restaurant at the resort.

Cold cocktail, warm fire, and the Rocky Mountains at twilight

Cheeseburger and truffle fries. Nuff said. The best photo of this entire set.

As I finished my dinner, I was thrilled to find that, on my last night in Colorado, the sky had finally cleared up, allowing me to get in some astro shots --- a fitting end to this photo diary series. I can't wait to come back and explore Colorado with camera in hand once again.

Stars of the Rocky Mountains, with the Milky Way just visible to the left.